FAIRVIEWTWP — Give Coty McGregor a four-run cushion early these days, and the Karns City HighSchool pitching star takes care of the rest.

McGregor, coming off a dominant start Friday against Clarion and pitching on three-days rest, dominated Union again, giving up just three hits and two unearned runs on the way to a 5-2 victory.

"That's Coty McGregor," said Karns City coach Rocky Brown. "He keeps us in the game and he throws hard."

McGregor wasn't even phased by five Karns City errors that led to the two runs the Golden Knights scored.

Instead, he deftly pitched out of the trouble.

"We didn't play good defense whatsoever behind him today," Brown said. "We stunk."

Lucky for the Gremlins, the only smell McGregor has carried around with him has been the sweet smell of success.

On Friday, he threw 72 pitches in hurling a one-hit, 1-0 shutout win against Clarion.

He needed a few more offerings than that to dispatch Union, but once again tossed a complete game.

McGregor seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. He stuck out four of the last six batters he faced.

"He does that," Brown said. "He said to me in the third inning, 'I'm throwing harder. I'm finally loose.' I don't know if it was because he threw on Friday or not, but it took him awhile to get loose."

Brown was not at all concerned about pitching McGregor again on just three days rest.

"They do it in the major leagues," Brown said. "I wasn't too concerned. The first few innings he left everything high, so I was a little concerned that maybe his arm was tired. But after the third inning when he got loose, he got the job done."

Karns City (8-5 overall, 7-4 in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference) scored all five of its runs on all three of its hits in the second inning off Union starter Chase Stewart. The inning was keyed by doubles from Saxon Parker and McGregor.

A.J. Ethridge drove in both Union runs with a single in the first inning and a double down the left field line in the fifth inning.

Ethridge also pitched three no-hit innings.

The sophomore hasn't pitched much this season.

Bill Burns closed out the game for Union with a perfect sixth inning.

"I was very impressed with our pitching staff," said Union coachAlan Carmichael. "In the next two weeks we have a pile of games. In fact, in the next two weeks we have as many games as we've played so far this season. At this point we are reaching deep into our pockets for pitchers.

"In fact, Mr. Ethridge hasn't been able to pitch for us consistently this season because of arm problems. Because of that, we are reluctant to pitch him that much."

Union 100 100 0—2 3 1Karns City 050 000 x—5 3 5WP: Coty McGregor (7 IP) 8 strikeouts, 2 walks.

LP: Chase Stewart (2 IP) 2 strikeouts, 1 walk

Union (6-5): A.J. Ethridge 1B, 2B, 2-RBI; Brett Moore 1B

Karns City (8-5, 7-4): Mike LoPresti 1B, Saxon Parker 2B, McGregor 2B

Thursday: Karns City at WestForest; Union at Keystone